SK^a^OM 



OF 



General James Wilson 



OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



BY HON. JAMKS K. BRIGQS. 



MANCHESTER, N. H. 

MANCHESTER HISTORIC ASSOCIATION, 

1©02. 



SK^^Ot-l 



OF 



General James Wilson 



OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



BY HON. JAIVEES K. BRIGOS. 



IVIANCHESTER, N. H. 
fvIANCHESTER HISTORIC ASSOCIATION, 

ieo2. 



^38 




iii 





Gen. James Wilson. 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 

A PAPER BY HON. JAMES F. BRIGGS, READ BEFORE THE MAN- 
CHESTER HISTORIC ASSOCIATION, OCTOBER 3, 1900. 



Mr. President : I regret that the duty of furnishing a sketch 
of the life and public services of Hon. James Wilson, late of 
Keene, N, H., had not been assigned to some one better quali- 
fied to do justice to the memory of this remarkable man. By 
way of introduction, with your permission, I desire to say a few 
words of his father, James Wilson, to show the seed from which 
he sprang. 

James Wilson, the father of James Wilson, Jr., was born in 
Peterboro, N. H., in 1757. He fitted for college at Phillips 
Academy, at Andover, Mass.; entered Harvard in 1785; and 
graduated in 1789. He was reputed to be one of the most 
skillful wrestlers in college, which was then the test of champion- 
ship. He took the badge in his Freshman year and retained it 
during his whole course. His distinction in this particular was 
justified by the remark of John Quincy Adams to his son, 
" Long Jim/' when he learned his parentage, " Your father 
was the best wrestler in college." 

On his graduation he entered the office of Judge Lincoln of 
Worcester, Mass., as a student of the law. He remained with 
Judge Lincoln until December, 1790, when he was called home 
on account of the death of his father. He remained in Peter- 
boro from that time, completing his studies with Judge Jeremiah 
Smith then in practice in the town of Peterboro, He was ad- 
mitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1792. Judge Smith hav- 
ing been elected to Congress from New Hampshire, and con- 
tinuing in that office for several succeeding years finally, re- 
moved to Exeter and Mr. Wilson continued his practice in his 



2 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS 

native town, until his removal to Keene in the year 1815. 
He retired from the active professional duties of his office on 
the admission of his son to the bar, in 1823, and devoted his 
time to his private affairs. 

James Wilson, Sr., is represented to have been a good lawyer, 
familiar with the science of the law, a man of quick preception, 
careful and thorough in the preparation of his cases, and he 
conducted them before the court and jury with marked ability 
and success. 

His practice in Cheshire and Hillsborough counties was ex- 
tensive, and he was generally retained on one side or the other 
in every important case. When asked by Mr. Levi Chamberlain 
why he did not address the reason of the jury instead of their 
feelings, he replied : " Too small a mark ; too small a mark 
for me to hit." 

James Wilson was elected from the Hillsborough District of 
New Hampshire a Representative in the Eleventh Congress of 
the United States as a Federalist. He served with distinction 
from May 22, 1809, to March 3, 181 1. His term of service, 
though brief, was one that no descendant of his, familiar with 
his services, but will be proud of the record he made. 

There were many young men in New Hampshire who were 
students in his office who afterwards achieved distinction in their 
profession. Among them were Gen. James Miller, John Wilson, 
David Smiley, Thomas F. Goodhue, Zaccheus Parker, Stephen 
P. Steele, David Scott, Charles J. Stewart, and Matthew Perkins. 
After he removed to Keene his students were David Steele, 
Amos Parker, Amasa Edes, and his son James Wilson, Jr. 
Mr. Wilson held many offices of trust and honor in his native 
town. He was moderator from 1800 to 1814; and representa- 
tive to the Legislature from 1803 to 18J5. He was a member 
of Congress from the Hillsborough District from 1809 to 181 1, 
being the first two years of President Madison's administration. 
He was an old-fashioned Federalist. He was a grateful, dutiful 
son, a good husband, a sympathetic parent, very kind to his 
children and to all his friends ; a good citizen, and noble-heart- 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. O 

ed man. He was industrious, just, vigilant in all matters of 
business. He died at Keene, January 4, 1839, universally 
respected and lamented, at the age of 73 years. 

James Wilson, Jr., was born in Peterboro, N. H., March t8, 
1797, and died at Keene, N. H., May 29, 1881. He was 
the son of James Wilson and Elizabeth Steele. His early lift 
was passed in his native town, with only such educational privi- 
leges as were there to be had, which at that early day were very 
limited. His mother became an invalid when her son James 
was only two years old, and remained so during the remainder 
of her life, thus depriving him of that kind, maternal care and 
attention so indispensable to the proper development of a young 
mind. She departed this life when he was in the ninth year of 
his age. 

In the year 1S07, young Wilson was sent for a few months to 
the academy at New Ipswich. In 1808, he was sent to the 
Atkinson Academy, where he remained for some three or four 
years. In the year 1813, he attended Phillips (Exeter) Acad- 
emy, at Exeter, N. H., for some six months. 

Our country was then involved in war with Great Britain, 
and young Wilson at sixteen years of age was desirous of join- 
ing the American army, as some of his acquaintances but little 
older than himself had already done. His father would not 
give his consent to his son's enlistment, and he was not old 
enough to be subject to the draft. Disappointed at being de- 
prived of the privilege of entering upon a military career, he 
left Exeter, and returning to his native town he went into the 
North Factory at Peterboro, and continued to work there from 
the Autumn of 1813 until the Spring of 1815, when peace be- 
tween the United States and England was proclaimed. Young 
Wilson went home in the Spring and worked on his father's 
farm as a common farm-laborer. In the Autumn of that year, 
as his father was about removing to Keene, the son picked up 
his books and went back to his studies. 

He entered Middlebury College (Vt.) in 1816 ; graduated from 
that institution in 1820 ; entered his father's office at Keene as a 



4 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECriONS. 

Student at law, and was admitted to the bar in Cheshire county, 
N. H., at the Fall term, 1823. 

His father, James Wilson^ Sr., retired from the active profes- 
sional duties of his office on the admission of his son to the 
bar, and the young man attaining to his father's business, con- 
tinued to practice law in Cheshire, Sullivan, Grafton, and 
Coos counties, until the year 1836, when by a stroke of paraly- 
sis his father became unable to attend to his own private affairs, 
and then required his son's assistance. He then gave up 
the Northern counties and continued the practice of law in 
Cheshire county. 

On leaving college in 1820, and fixing his residence at Keene, 
James Wilson, Jr., entered the military service of the State. 
He was elected Captain of the Keene Light Infantry on the 
first day of January, 1821, and continued in the militia, con- 
stantly doing duty, until 1839, when he resigned the office of 
Major-General of the Third Division of the New Hampshire 
Militia. 

At the March election in 1825, he was chosen as one of the 
two Representatives from the town of Keene to the State 
Legislature. 

In 1828, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives of New Hampshire, the duties of which he performed with 
signal ability to the acceptance of all parties. In that House 
there were several men of distingushed reputation and of 
prominent standing in the Whig party, such as the Hon. Ezekiel 
Webster, the Hon. Benjamin M. Farley, the Hon. Joseph Bell, 
the Hon. Parker Noyes, and others from different parts of the 
State. From the year 1825 to the year 1840 inclusive, he rep- 
resented the town of Keene in the State Legislature every year, 
except 1833, 183S, and 1S39. The last two years, namely, 1838 
and 1839, he was the candidate of the Whig party in the State 
for Governor, but was defeated by his Democratic opponent. 

The year 1840 was a year of great political awakening in this 
country. The Democratic party had nominated Martin Van 
Buren for President of the United States for a second term. 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 

The Whigs went into the political battle uuder the banner of 
' Tippecanoe and T3'ler too,' ^ and with them ' determined to 
' beat little Van.' The Whigs succeeded. Gen. James Wil?on, 
of New Hampshire (' Long Jim/ as he was familiarly called), 
did a good deal of political service in that campaign. He 
stumped almost all the New England states, spoke several 
times in Pennsylvania, and gave a whole month's work, on the 
stump, in the State of New York, Mr. Van Buren's state. Mr. 
Van Buren lost New York, Pennsylvania, and most of the New 
England States, and was defeated. 

Gen. Harrison was elected President, and John Tyler Vice- 
President. They were inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1841. 
Gen. Harrison lived only one month after his inauguration, and 
Mr, Tyler succeeded to the Presidency. About June, 1841, 
Mr. Tyler offered to Gen. Wilson the office of Surveyor-General 
of the Public Lands in the then Territories of Wisconsin and 
Iowa, which office he accepted, and took possession of the Sur- 
veyor-General's office, at Dubuque, Iowa, in the early part of 
the summer. He continued to hold that office and to perform 
its duties for four years. In 1845, James K. Polk having been 
elected President, he was removed. 

In 1846, the voters of the town of Keene returned Gen. 
Wilson again, as their representative, to the General Court. 
That year the Whigs and a party styling themselves ' Indepen- 
dent Democrats ' succeeded in defeating the regular old line 
Democracy in New Hampshire. The State was districted for 
the choice of Representatives to Congress, and the following 
year he was elected Representative from the Third Congres- 
sional District to the Thirtieth Congress. He was re-elected to 
the Thirty-First Congress, and held his seat until the 9th day 
of September, 1850, when he resigned and left this Eastern 
country for California. He resided in California eleven years 
continuously, and only returned East at the breaking out of 
the of the Civil War in 1861. On meeting his old friend 
Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, Mr. 
Lincoln offered him a Brigadier-General's commission in the 



6 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

army of the United States, which offer Gen. Wilson declined, 
for the reason of his advanced age and his physical infirmities. 
He remained East about a year and a half, giving such aid and 
moral support as he could to the Union cause. He returned 
to California in the Autumn of 1862, and resided there .until 
1867, when he left the Pacific coast and returned to his old 
home in Keene, to live out the residue of his days among his 
old friends and acquaintances who had been so true and kind 
to him throughout so many, many years. In 1870 and 1871, 
the voters of Keene elected him again to represent them in the 
General Court of the State of New Hampshire. 

He was married to Mary L. Richardson, of Montpelier, Vt., 
November 26, 1823. His wife died in 1848. 

Their children were : Mary, born Oct. 27, 1826, (she married 
John Sherwood of New York); James E., born 1827, died 
March 9, 1832 ; William R., born Nov. 2, 1830, died March 17, 
1834 ; Annie F., born Sept. 23, 1832, (she married Col. Francis 
S. Fisk) ; Charlotte F., born Aug. 31, 1835, ^^e (married 
Frank S. Taintor of New York) ; James H., born Dec. 4, 1837 ; 
Daniel W., born Feb. 13, i84[, died Jan. 18, 1846. 

He was widely known as a military man, a lawyer, and an 
orator. His power of addressing and holding jurors, and a 
great multitude in times of excitement was extraordinary as 
will be illustrated in the instances hereafter recorded. 

His celebrated speech speech at the Peterboro Centennial 
received universal commendation. It was in part as follows : 

" Mr. President : I regret that I am called upon to respond 
to the sentiment which has just been announced, and received 
with so much approbation by this great assembly. Upon look- 
ing over the list of sentiments yesterday, I was informed that 
the one just read was designed to call out that highly-respected, 
time honored gentleman, Hon. Jeremiah Smith, of Exeter, a man 
who feels proud of the place of his nativity, and who on all prop- 
er occasions has a good word to say of and for old Peterboro. 
We should have been delighted to have seen that venerable and 
venerated man here, and to have heard him, in his usual elo- 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 7 

quent and forcible manner, his reminiscences of by-gone times. 

He has indeed grown old, but not old enough yet to forget 
any good thing. His mind is richly stored with varied learning, 
and his knowledge of the early history of the town, the pecul- 
iarities of its' early inhabitants, his great fund of wit and anec- 
dote connected with the first settlers, very far exceeds that of 
any living man ; and there is now no one of the emigrants who 
could so well give an apt response to your highly complimentary 
sentiment as that worthy octogenarian. I was heart-pained to 
learn last evening that his attendance is prevented by physical 
infirmity In his absence I could have wished that another 
highly respected son of Peterboro, of the Smith family, had 
been here to have spoken in our behalf. I allude to one more 
nearly allied lo you, Mr. President, your eldest son, my most 
esteemed friend. We are of nearly the same age. Our friend- 
ship dales back to the days of our childhood. Our intimacy 
commenced in that little, square, hipped-roof schoolhouse that 
formerly stood between your homestead and the homestead of 
my honored father. It was an intimacy in the outset character- 
ized by the ardor of youth, and grew with our increasing years 
into the strong and unwavering friendship of mature manhood. 
There has never been a moment's estrangement. For thirty 
years no frost has chilled it, nor can it grow cold until the clods 
shall rumble upon our coffins. Glad, indeed, should I have 
been to have met once more my friend here, to have grasped 
him by the hand, to have looked upon his slender form and his 
pale features, to have listened to the tones of his clear voice, to 
have caught and treasured up the sentiments of a mind as clear 
as the atmosphere upon the summits of our native hills, and a 
heart as pure as the fountains that gush from their base. 
From the sad tidings that I hear of his declining health, I fear 
that I shall never meet him on this side the grave. May a mer- 
ciful God bless him. 

Well may Peterboro express her joy at the success of her ab- 
sent sons, and pride herself upon them when she numbers such 
men as these among them. 



8 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

Your sentiment, sir, breathes the prayer that we, the emi- 
grants, may not forgec the place of our nativity, I can hardly 
realize that I am an emigrant. True, sir, a wave of Providence 
has taken me up, wafted me onward, and cast me upon land 
not far distant. Although my domicile is in another place, it is 
here that I seem most at home. It is here that I enjoy all 
those pleasures derived from early recollection and early associ- 
ations. It is here that every natural object that meets my eye has 
some story to relate of high interest to my mind ; here every 
house and tree, stump and stone, hill and brook, presents to me 
image of .some old, familiar, well loved friend. It is here that 
I meet my earliest friends, and their greeting seems warmer, 
and more cordial than elsewhere. It was here that I first enjoyed 
that substantial Peterboro hospitality so well understood and so 
highly appreciated by every one at all acquainted with the peo- 
ple of the town some some thirty years ago. Let me not be 
understood, Mr, President, as drawing a comparison unfavorable 
to the good people with whom I am in more immediate inter- 
course at the present time. No, sir, I reside among an excel- 
lent and a worthy community, to whom I am bound in a large 
debt of gratitude. They have manifested toward me a kindness 
and a confidence vastly beyond my merits ; and I am sure they 
will not esteem me the less for finding me susceptible of emo- 
tion at the recollections and fond associations of my childhood. 
Forget Peterboro. How can I forget her ? Why, sir, I was 
born just over there. The bones of my ancestors, both paternal 
and maternal, are deposited just over there. And among them 
there repose the remains of my mother. Oh, sir, it would be 
cold and heartless ingratitude to forget the place where one's 
earliest and best friend slumbers in death, 

" Ingratitude. Thou naarble-hearted fiend, 
More hideous, when tliou show'st thee in a child, 
Than the sea-raonster." 

Spare me, oh, spare me such a reproach. My prayer to 
Heaven is, that when these eyes shall grow dim, this tongue be- 
come dumb, when these lungs shall cease to heave, and this 



GENERAL lAMES WILSON. 9 

heart to throw off a pulsation, then this head and lintibs may 
be laid to crumble down to dust by side of thine, my mother. 

* * -i: * * * * 

I have watched with intense interest the wonderful improv- 
ments that have been carried forward in my native town within 
the last thirty years. When I was a boy, a weekly mail, carried 
upon horseback by a very honest old man by the name of Gibbs, 
afforded all the mail facilities which the business of the town 
required. Now, sir, we see a stage-coach pass and repass 
through this beautiful village every day, loaded with passengers 
and transporting a heavy mail. Your highways and bridges 
have been astonishingly improved, showing a praiseworthy lib- 
erality on the part of the town to that important subject. Your 
progress in agriculture, manufactures, and the mechanic arts 
exhibits striking evidence of the progress of improvement. 
Look abroad now upon the finely cultivated fields, the substan- 
tial fences, the comfortable, yea, elegant dwellings, the superb 
manufacturing buildings, the splendid churches and seminaries 
of learning, and in view of all these let the mind for a moment 
contrast it with the prospect which presented itself to the eye 
of the first settler as he attained the summit of East moun- 
tain one hundred years ago. Then not a human habitation for 
the eye to repose on over the whole extent of this basin-like 
township — one unbroken forest throughout the eye's most ex- 
tensive range. No sound of music or hum of cheerful industry 
saluted his ear. It was only the howl of the savage beast, or 
the yell of the still (nore savage man, that broke the appalling 
stillness of the forest. What a wonderful change a hundred 
years hath wrought here, and what unshrinking energy of char- 
acter was requisite to induce the commencement of the under- 
taking. 

Some of the old objects of interest to me in my younger days 
are gone ; their places, indeed, have been supplied by more ex- 
pensive and elegant structures. Still, I must say, I regret their 
loss. And let me ask, Mr, President, are you quite sure that 
the loss may not manifest itself in some future time ? I allude, 



10 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

sir, to the loss of the old church on the hill there, and the old 
beech tree tree that stood hard by. I look, even at this period 
of life, upon that spot with a kind of superstitious reverence. 
Many are the noble resolutions that young minds have formed 
under the shade of the old beech tree. Intellectual indolence 
is the prevailing fault of our times. Under the old beech, in 
my young days, the great and the talented men of this town 
used to assemble, and there discuss with distinguished power 
and ability the most important topics. Religion, politics, litera- 
ture agriculture, and various other important subjects were 
there discussed. Well, distinctly well, do .1 remember those 
debates carried on by the Smiths, the Morrisons, the Steeles, 
the Holmes, the Robbes, the Scotts, the Todds, the Millers, 
and perhaps I may be excused for adding the Wilsons and 
others. No absurd proposition or ridiculous idea escaped ex- 
posure for a single moment. A debater there had to draw 
himself up close, be precise in his logic, and correct in his lan- 
guage to command respectful attention. Abler discussion was 
never listened to anywhere. Strong thought and* brillianl con- 
ceptions broke forth in clear and select language. They were 
reading men, talking men, forcibiy talking men, and sensible 
men. Bright intellectual sparks were constantly emanating 
from those great native minds, and, falling upon younger 
minds, kindled their slumbering energies to subsequent nobler 
exertion. The immediate effect of those discussions could be 
easily traced in the beaming eye and the agitated muscles of 
the excited listeners. It was obvious to an acute observer that 
there was a powerful effort going on in many a young mind 
among the hearers, to seize, retain, and examine some of the 
grand ideas that had been started by the talkers. This rousing 
of the young mind to manly exertion, and aiding it in arriving 
at a consciousness of its own mighty powers, was of great ad- 
vantage where the seeds of true genius had been planted by the 
hand of nature. If any of the Peterboro boys, within the last 
thirty years, have attained to anything like intellectual great- 
ness, my life on it, they date the commencement of their prog- 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 1 1 

ress from the scenes under the old beech tree. A thousand 
times have I thought, Mr. President, if I had the world's wealth 
at my command I would cheerfully have bartered it all for the 
ability to talk as well as those men talked. Antiquity may 
boast of her schools of philosophy ; the present may point to 
her debating clubs and lyceums, and talk loud as it will of 
modern improvement ; give me the sound good sense that 
rolled unrestrained from eloquent lips under the old beech, and 
it is of more worth than all. I shall always respect the spot 
where it grew, and even now it grieves me to see the greensward 
that sheltered its roots torn too roughly by the ploughshare. 

I had purposed, iMr. President, to have asked the attention 
of the audience to some few remarks on the all-important subject 
of education. Old Peterboro has hitherto given her full share 
of educated men to the public, and I cannot but hope that she 
will not now permit her neighbors to go ahead of her in this 
particular. The shades of evening, however, admonish me that 
I must not trespass further. I must tender my thanks to the 
audience for the very kind and polite attention they have given 
me during my remarks I have felt constrained to make at this 
late hour in the afternoon. Allow me to say in conclusion : 
The sons and daughters of Peterboro, native and adopted : 
in all good deeds may they prove themselves worthy of the 
noble stock that has gone before them. 

General Wilson was greatly interested in military affairs. He 
was appointed Captain of the Keene Light Infantry January i, 
1821, and successfully passed through all the various ranks 
until he was appointed Major-General in the Third Division of 
the New Hampshire Militia. He continued in the service until 
1839, when he resigned. At this time there were very few mili- 
tary men his equal. 

He was a strict disciplinarian, popular with his soldiers and 
brought his command to a high state of proficiency. June 28, 
1833, Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, visited 
Concord, N. H. This was the great day at the capital. Thou- 
sands of people gathered at Concord from all parts of the State 



12 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

to pay their respect to the President. He was accompanied by 
Vice-President Martin Van Buren, Secretary of War Lewis Cass, 
Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury, Major Andrew 'J. Don- 
elson. Secretary of the President, and many distinguished men 
were present. 

The military display was of the highest order. It consisted 
of eight picked companies. The best disciplined, the most 
efficient, the largest and the best drilled was the celebrated 
Keene Light Infantry commanded by 'Gen. James Wilson. 
This company attracted the attention and excited the admira- 
tion of General Jackson and its Captain was personally con- 
gratulated for its fine appearance by him. 

General Wilson was the most striking and attractive person 
that I ever met. He was a giant physically as well as intellec- 
tually. Wherever he went, whatever he did, he attracted the 
attention of all who saw him. He was beloved by his friends, 
honored by the people, and idolized by his family. There 
was a charm about his personality that made all who knew him 
ever hold him in loving remembrance. New Hampshire never 
had a son more widely loved than Gen. Wilson. " He was 
six feet and four inches in height, well built, erect, with deep set 
bright blue eyes, a wealth of black, curly hair, stern and deter- 
mined, yet fascinating, countenance," and often spoke of himself 
as a rough hewn block from the Granite State, and everywhere 
was spoken of by his friends as " Long Jim Wilson." As a law- 
yer he was able and successful, and won a high reputation. 
As an advocate he had few equals and no superior. Before 
juries his eloquence was irresistible. He could excite them to 
laughter or move them to tears at his will. When appealing to 
the sympathy of the jury his opponents would often say, 
" Wilson is boring for water," or " pumping for tears." 

Gen. Wilson as an orator was unequaled. His pov/er of ad- 
dressing and holding great multitudes in times of excitement 
was wonderful. He took an active part in the Presidential 
campaign of 1840 and proved himself to be one of the most 
eloquent and efficient popular orators of his time. 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 13 

Ex-Governor Bell, in his " Bench and Bar," says of him as 
follows : '■ His qualifications for this were unequalled ; his 
physique was on a majestic scale ; his voice sonorous ; his lan- 
guage was the purest vernacular; his logic had the grip of the 
vise ; he was always prodigiously in earnest ; his illustrations 
and witty sallies were irresistible and he often broke out in 
strains of bold and moving eloquence." 

There are many anecdotes told of him, illustrating his won- 
derful influence over the crowds that gathered to hear him. 

He often captured his hearers by the opening sentence of his 
speech. He began one of them, I think, in New York, " I am 
six feet and four in my stockings and every inch a Whig." 

At one of his outdoor meetings in 1840, in the. Harrison 
campaign, a shower came up which threatened to disperse the 
audience. He deliberately pulled off his coat (as usual) and 
began, " The only rain that I have any fear of is the reign 
of Martin Van Buren." He had hearers enough after that. 

In some of the States farther west it was the custom of both 
parties to hold public meetings on the same day in the same 
field. When speakers occupied stands not far apart he cap- 
tured the entire crowd and on one occasion he left not a single 
hearer for the ocher side. 

At the first meeting of the Sons of New Hampshire in Bos- 
ton, in 1843, he was present and called upon to speak to the 
sentiment, " The families we left behind." Many speakers had 
preceded him and their speeches if good were rather formal, 
but when Gen. Wilson rose to speak the tones of a hearty, sym- 
pathetic voice roused the feelings of his audience and his touch- 
ing picture of the old folk at home stirred every heart to its 
depth. " We will go back," " said he, " and tell the mothers 
and sisters how well the boys behave when they are away from 
home." This speech gave voice to the genuine feeling of all 
hearts and was welcomed with cheering, earnest, prolonged and 
again and again renewed. 

The fame of Gen, Wilson as an orator was well known in 
New Hampshire. When I was a boy, living in Holderness, 



14 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS, 

N. H., now Ashland, I saw a poster announcing that James 
Wilson would addresss the people at Wentworth on a certain 
day. Although then a minor I determined to go. It was a 
stormy day ; the snow was deep and I braved the storm and 
arrived at Wentworth in season for the meeting. 

It was held in the church and before Mr. Wilson appeared it 
was filled to its utmost capacity I sat near the pulpit when 
Mr. Wilson came in. His immense physique, his dark, rough 
features, curly, black hair and deep set, blue eyes will never be 
forgotten. The meeting was promptly called to order and Gen. 
Wilson began his speech. He held the vast audience for over 
two hours with such a speech as I never had listened to before, 
and never have since heard surpassed. His speech was upon 
the political issues that divided the political parties. 

It was a masterly effort, forcible, eloquent, and unanswerable. 
The applause was hearty, frequent, and prolonged. He drew a 
parallel between the slave states and the free states ; the con- 
dition between the laborers in the south and at the north ; the 
political power exercised by the south in the government over 
the north. He declared it not only the right but the duty of 
the north to prevent the extension of slavery over the free ter- 
ritories of the United States. He clearly, frankly, and fear- 
lessly defined his position upon the questions involved in the 
contest and closed amid cheers and hearty congratulations of 
his friends. 

The fame of Gen. Wilson as an orator was already known in 
Washington when he entered the National House of Represen- 
tatives, and while there he made several speeches, but facilities 
for reporting them were not equal to those of today and but a 
few brief reports of them are preserved. His great speech on 
the slavery question, on February 19, 1848, attracted great 
attention. - 

One who was present tells me that he went into the House 
and found it filled to its utmost capacity. This person went 
into the Senate chamber first and found it almost deserted. 
Then he went over to the house, and found most of the Sena- 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 15 

ors there. Wilson had just begun his speech. The House was 
still, no clapping for pages, no moving about, but all were 
attentively listening to Gen. Wilson and his voice was clear and 
sonorous and reached every part of the House. 

He possessed great power of statement. His utterance was 
rapid, but his enunciation was distinct. At times he was gentle 
and sympathetic ; at others, bold and aggressive ; but the whole 
speech was a remarkable illustration of his power us an orator 
and established his reputation as one of the most eloquent men 
of his day. He was repeatedly interrupted by applause, and at 
the conclusion of his speech he was greeted with round and 
round and most heartily and warmly congratulated by his friends. 

An anecdote of Willian P. Wheeler, the gentleman who suc- 
ceeded Gen. Wilson as leader of the Cheshire county bar, 
gives a glimpse of Wilson on the stump in 1840. Sometime dur- 
ing the sixties Mr. Wheeler made a pleasure trip west and dur- 
ing the trip took a steamer ride down the Ohio. A gentleman 
familiar with the river began to describe objects of interest. 
Learning Mr. Wheeler was from Keene he begged him to tell 
him about Gen. Wilson. After satisfying his curiosity, Mr, 
Wheeler said he would be glad to learn how a resident of Ohio 
knew about Gen. Wilson enough to become an ardent admirer • 

" It happened this way," replied the gentleman : " Business 
obliged me to make a trip to Albany, N. Y., in 1840, during the 
height of the presidential campaign. My business having been 
accomplished, I prepared to return home. On arriving at the 
railway station, I found my train did not leave for a little over 
an hour and to while away the time I went outside and looked 
about. In an opon space near at hand a stand for public 
speaking had been erected and a few people had already gath- 
ered about the stand. From a poster I learned that the elo- 
quent Gen. James Wilson of Keene, N. H , was about to de- 
liver an address. Hearing the approaching band, I walked up 
to the stand, for I always made it a point to hear good speakers 
whenever the opportunity offers. I confess when Gen, Wilson 
was introduced I was greatly disappointed, for I could not be- 



16 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

lieve that this dark, rugged looking giant could be a great 
orator. When he began to speak my mind changed, for from 
the moment that I head his voice I stood spell bound. A sec- 
ond's pause enabled me to consult my watch, and to my in- 
tense astonishment I found my train must have been gone sev- 
eral minutes for I had been listening over an hour utterly obliv- 
ious to the passage of time. With a sigh of relief I remem- 
bered there was another train an hour later and I turned to lis- 
ten to the fascinating speaker I had heard. I determined this 
time to keep track of the time and not miss the next train. 
Again I listened with breathless attention. Glancing at my 
watch I discovered 1 had just twenty minutes left to catch my 
train. Again had I been totally unconscious of the flight of 
time. Although it was not over five minutes' walk to the sta- 
tion I did not dare listen further, for if I did I. knew I should 
miss my train a second time. I resolutely faced about and 
started for the station. Imagine my astonishment'. When I 
tirst faced the speaker, perhaps 200 people were present. Now 
I was facing a great audience of from 8,000 to 10,000 people 
(the papers said the larger number). I had been so completely 
engrossed in listening that i had been utterly unconscious of 
the addition to the assemblage. It took me over half an hour 
to work my passage through that crowd and if Gen. Wilson had 
not closed his speech I might never have got through it. I 
again missed my train and was obliged to wait for a night train- 
I shall always regret that I did not wait and hear the close of 
that wonderful address. Every one who came in range of his 
wonderful voice had been drawn to the speaker and held by 
him just as a powerful magnet attracts and holds iron filings." 
Hon. John P. Hale said that his first opportunity to hear 
Gen. Wilson speak was on April 22, 1861. The war had begun 
and word was sent to all the neighboring towns that Gen. Wil- 
son was in Keene on a visit and would address a mass meeting 
in Central Square, Keene, on that day. Long before the hour the 
Square was crowded. He was on hand early and got a good 
position near the speaker's stand. The band and many citizens 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 17 

went to Wilson's house and escorted his carriage to the stand. 
Describing the moment when the carriage arrived, McClin- 
tock's " History of New Hampshire " says : 

" When the door was opened and the familiar form of the 
old hero was seen mounting the rostrum, such tumultuous ap- 
plause was heard as was never known in Keene before." Being 
but a schoolboy I don't remember much of the address, but the 
effect of his appeal for volunteers was electrical. When the 
old man, so crippled by rheumatism that he could not walk 
without a cane, took his seat, men started for the platform to 
enlist from all parts of the audience. Some could not wait to 
go around to the steps but climbed over the railings. Describ- 
ing the closing of this speech, McClintock's " History of 
New Hampshire " says : '' It was a scene never to be forgot- 
ten by those who were present ; and it did much good, the im- 
mediate effect being to add many names to the rolls of the 
enlistments." 

As illustrating the power of Wilson's eloquence, the following 
incident will serve to show that it was a kind not dependent on 
favoring conditions. When making the survey of Iowa, it was 
found that many squatters had settled in certain sections of the 
State, and these sections they declared should not be surveyed. 
In due time Wilson with his outfit of surveyors arrived near the 
settlement of the most turbulent gang of squatters in the State. 
Needing supplies, he sent one of his men to the nearest trading 
post to purchase what was wanted, with instructions to return 
and get the camp team if he found he could get what he needed. 
The supplies were purchased and paid for, but when the team 
arrived delivery was refused, and the man returned and stated 
that the post was full of roughs, who had learned in some way 
that the supplies were for the United States surveyors. Seeing 
the critical moment was at hand, Wilson went at once to the 
store, accompanied by several of his men and his younger broth- 
er Robert, (in after years Col. " Bob "' of the Fourteenth New 
Hampshire). The two Wilsons entered the store and asked 
the proprietor if certain goods had been bought and paid for; 



18 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

if SO, why he reiused to dehver them ? Then the roughs de- 
clared they had taken possession of the store and until they 
were dispossesssed no delivery could be made. Wilson turned to 
his brother and said : " Bob, these gentlemen seem a little 
diffident about going out alone. If you will escort them to the 
door, I will see them safely out." 

Robert Wilson, while not as tall as the General, was about as 
heavy ; he was an expert boxer and wrestler, and almost a 
match in strength for the General himself. He seized the near- 
est man and flung him to the General, who pitched him head- 
long out. In a couple of minutes a dozen men had been 
spread-eagled over that section of Iowa. They scrambled to 
their feet, scraped their eyes and noses clear of subsoil, freed 
their mouths of grass roots, drew their weapons and made ready 
for a fight to the dea'h. 

Seeing " Bob " was in possession, Wilson coolly stepped out- 
side and said, " Boys, I got a word to say." It would not seem 
as if he had selected an especially favorable opportunity for 
speech making. In five minutes these men, who thirsted for 
his blood, were subjected ; in ten, they were wildly cheering 
him ; in fifteen, the United States surveyors were their long 
lost brothers. They rallied about Wilson, eager to shake his 
hand. They insisted on loading his team with supplies, and 
then escorted him in triumph to his camp. \^'ilson had won 
their allegiance, not only to himself but to the government. 
The next day the competition for the privilege of carrying the 
chains and flags for the surveyors became strong. Their camp 
was kept supplied with game, and the roughest neighborhood in 
Iowa became a picnic giound for the camp of surveyors. Not 
content with this they sent word ahead that anything they could 
do was not too good for Wilson, and charged their friends to 
see that he lacked nothing they could supply. By the magic 
of his tongue Wilson had changed a band of lawless despera- 
does into friends as loyal to his bidding as the tribesmen of 
a Scottish chieftain. 

The following sketch of General Wilson, written by Moses A. 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 19 

Cartland, describes him so fully and accurately, that I will give 
it entire as it came from the pen of the g.fted author. It was 
written many years ago by this personal friend of Gen. Wilson. 
" Almost everybody in this state knows General Wilson 
by the familiar, but not very elegant, cognomen, '* Long 
Jim." Still, there is more meaning and appropriateness in it 
than a fa.'itidious ear might he aware of ' Long,' he certainly 
is — though not an Anak, nor stretched to the immeasurable 
length of 'Long John ' of Chicago. And, to his credit, he is 
one of those unsophisticated and unstarched men who may be 
Jimmed without offending their delicacy or detracting from their 
integiiiy. There are some such men who boast no royal pride, 
but pass along, in republican simplicity, claiming the humblest 
citizen as a brother, and saying to the highest, as Black Hawk 
did to the President, ' I am a man, and you are another.' ' Don't 
thee and thou us,' said the pompous justices of England to the 
plain, blunt Quaker, Fox. ' Use such familiarities to our ser- 
vants, but not to magistrates,' said they. And a good deal of 
that stiffening has crept down into the veins of these demo- 
cratic times. The Quakers used to take Washington by the 
hand, while President of the United Stales, and address him, 
as Penn had the king before, simply as ' George.' The great 
man seemed rather pleased with a greeting which bespoke the 
the fraternizing affection of home, and often reciprocated it with 
the like simplicity of a brother. Some Male sprig of aristocracy, 
belter furnished with broadcloth than with brains, would have 
resented a fami.iarity that made him but ' common clay.' 

" But not to dwell on these things, it must be admitted that 
Gen. Wilson is distinguished, in an eminent degree, for simple, 
unostentatious habits in his intercourse, and unvarying courtesy 
of demeanor. He probably feels that he is a man, and not an 
ape. Not a mere buckram fop or dandy — one of those pre- 
cious things, so numerous in sunny weather, that 
' Present a body which, at most, 
Is less substantial than a ghost .' 

" Had Robert Burns been an orator instead of a poet, there 



20 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

would have been a very striking resemblance between him and 
Gen. Wilson. And there is reason for this ; for the latter is 
of Scottish descent, and his veins are full of Scotch feelings 
and fire, tempered with that earnest, Irish enthusiasm, which 
he derives from one branch of his ancestral line. Those who 
know anything of the noble hearted, strong willed poet, will see 
very strong points of resemblance between them. The same 
wild scenes of nature, the same 

' Land of the mountahi and the flood. 
Of dark brown heath and shaggy wood,' 

first opened alike to their youthful eyes. Burns, in his boy- 
hood, followed the plough, and pressed his wild, free feet to the 
old Caledonian hills ; while the American boy bent to the same 
rustic employment, and learned freedom like him in our own 
beloved Scotland. The same free, generous^ and impetuous 
spirit that swelled in the bosom of one, now characterizes the 
other. Alike in disdaining the folly of lordly life and the 
* rattling equipage ' of wealth and fashion, the same glorious 
spirit of independence that Burns worshipped, as ' lord of the 
lion heart and eagle eye,' is equally the idol of the New Hamp- 
shire orator. If the music of the one fell like a transcendent 
charm upon the Scottish ear, no less potent, in a different ca - 
pacity, is the voice of the other to stir the pulse or win the 
heart. The same martial fire, the same restless and indignant 
hatred of tyranny, that burned in the Scotchman's veins, now 
runs in the American's. 

" Compare them physically, and the same resemblance is ap- 
parent ; with an exception, however, for the eye of Burns was 
the most distinctive feature of his face. Poetry lingered in its 
radiance; and when the bard felt the struggling of the mighty 
nature within him, his eye is said to have burned and kindled 
with an ' almost insufferable light.' In Gen. Wilson, the 
same feature is often lighted up with terrible power. To a 
stranger. Gen. Wilson would not appear the lion he actually is 
when aroused and in the midst of one of his impassioned 
strains of eloquence — as Charles Lamb has said of books — 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 21 

that is eloquence. He would then be[taken for sonrje hard- 
faced ploughman^ ungifted with that ' mighty magic ' which puts 
a tongue in everything that leads an assembly captive. I have 
attended public meetings when he was to address the people, 
and noted the curious inquiries and sage remarks of those who 
had never before seen him, and knew nothing of his powers as 
a speaker. Plainly attired, and in the most unstudied manner, 
he would enter the house and sit in modest carelessness await- 
ing the gathering of his audience. No stranger eye would be 
fixed on him as the hero of the scene. ' Where is he ? ' would 
be the inquiry. ' There he is — that coarse looking man, bend- 
ing forward, with the aspect of a long ' Vermont Jonathan,' 
would be the reply. ' That (ien. Wilson ? — why, he don't 
look as though he could say anything. See, there, I guess your 
phrenology is all knocked in the head now. He looks like an 
old plough jogger. ' Such would be the comments. But he 
speaks — at first with the simplicity and courteous phraseology 
that distinguishes the gallant man always. He stretches him- 
self up — raises his stentorian voice as he warms with his sub- 
ject — period upon period goes rolling out upon the audience, 
and echoing back and up like ocean tones of the sea. The 
orator seems laboring and dashing forward like one of those 
'oak leviathans' of the deep, crushing the haughty waves be- 
neath its keel, and wrestling onward against the tempest. It is 
then you begin to realize the awakening of that ' dormant thun- 
der ' whic^h you so little dreamed was sleeping in that awkward 
form and unpromising aspect. You are borne onward by the 
impetuous current, or stirred by some startling picture of polit- 
ical folly or aggravated wrong, until it would seem as though 
the old dead had been summoned back to rebuke the living. 

" But in all this thereis no ungenerous taunt — no flippant 
blackguardism — no impeachment of his opponent's motives or 
abilities, but an exhibition of the loftier and better feelings. 
In this respect Gen. Wilson occupies a more elevated position 
than most of the political orators of the day. He scorns the 
tricks and slang of the demagogue. He never descends to them. 



22 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

His language is chosen with even the nice taste of the scholar; 
and while his periods oftentimes exhibit a peculiar beauty and 
finish, they are full of energy and charmed with fire — 'as 
lighting lurks in the drops of the summer clouds.' He never 
caters to the vulgar appetite which riots in abusive epithet and 
unmanly detraction. Nor does he ever stop to repel the base 
attack and calumny so rife in partizan warfare. But he stands 
up like the storm-defying pillar, that mocks alike the fury of the 
tempest and the wave, and he bears his head aloft into the sun- 
shine and bids them beat on." 

The following is an extract from a speech by Gen. James 
Wilson on the Slavery Question, February 16, 1849, 

It has been said by some one, that ' man is the child of cir. 
cumstance.' It is a sage remark, and true; and to me it is not 
surprising that gentlemen should entertain different opinions, 
and should rise here in debate and express opposite views upon 
the subject of slavery. I know, can feel, and realize, that my 
own views and opinions are influenced much by the impressions 
received in childhood ; and while I am conscious of that in my- 
self, it is but just to infer that other men are influenced by the 
circumstances by which they were surrounded during the recep- 
tive period of early life. It excites no marvel in my mind that 
gentlemen who have first seen the light of day in the South — 
who have first opened their eyes to the realities of life under the 
auspices of that institution — who wtre early taught to command 
and thai it was their right to be obeyed — who had but to say 
to a certain class of individuals around them, 'Come,' and they 
would come ; ' Go/ and they would go. I can very well under- 
stand how it is that gentlemen, accustomed from their child- 
hood to command, being nurtured in this way up to the condi. 
tion of manhood, should entertain entirely different opinions 
from those which I, and those which have been brought up as I 
have been, entertained. In the northern States of this Union, we 
are taught from childhood to look upon labor as the condition 
of life ; to think from the outset that we are born to labor. 
The child is instructed and made to know that if he wants any- 



L.ofC. 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 23 

thing done within the compass of his own ability, he must do 
it for himself. He is encouraged to effort, and compelled, if 
need be, to make it. Labor becomes habit. 

I have said, sir, that in the free labor States of this Union, 
even the little children are required to labor according to their 
intellectual ability and physical strength. Even from its cradle 
it is put to work. It is aroused from its morning slumbers to 
be greeted by the smiles of a kind mother, and is encouraged to 
make the effort to do for itself what it may be able to do. It is 
not, to be sure, furnished with the heavy tools, the drills and 
hammers, picks and gads, of the miner, and sent to sink shafts 
in trap rock of limestone, in search of copper ore ; it is not 
furnished with a spade and windlass, rope and tub, and sent 
away to sink its shaft in clay diggings, in search of lead mineral. 
No, sir i but its morning bath and wardrobe attended to, and 
its breakfast finished, it has its working tools, consisting of 
some simple books and carefully arranged in a little satchel, 
wrought all over with pictures of birds, and butterflies, and 
flowers, in gay colors, by the hand of a kind sister. Thus 
equipped, it is sent away to the village school, to work — to 
work. It begins to sink its shaft down into its own intellect ; 
it sinks on and on, deeper and deeper. Encouraged by its suc- 
cess, it perseveres, until, by and by, it brings up to view, and for 
the use of mankind, treasures infinitely more valuable than the 
gold from the mines of Mexico, or Peru, or California — gems 
more brilli mt than ever sparkled upon the brow of queen, or 
blazed in the hall of royalty. 

I undertake., to say that, for the last fifty years of the history 
of this goverment, this great slavery question has been the 
very center and focus of all our political action : the focal point 
around which every great national interest has revolved. 

I might illustrate by comparison with the movements of 
the planets in their orbits around the natural sun. The figure 
of speech would not be quite accurate and appropriate, because 
when we speak of the natural sun, we convey to the mind the 
idea of light and heat, warmth and life-giving energy through- 



l-'4 MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 

out the sphere of its influence ; while that central point of our 
political action is as black and dark as Egyptian darkness ; as 
cold and heartless, and unsympathizing as the icebergs that 
roll in the Arctic ocean. 



There was then, a certain, distinct, and definite tract of 
country, to which the Constitution of the United States was to 
apply. And now let me ask any member of the committee to 
take the journal of that convention in his hand, and say whether 
he could believe that the men of that convention, who were 
brought together for the purpose of framing a Constitution for 
the United States, did, in fact, form an instrument with all the 
properties of a monstrous gum-elastic overshoe inverted, the 
toe of which could be drawn on over the north pole, -the heel 
hitched down over some tall mountain near the Isthmus of 
Darien ? The very idea is too preposterous to be entertained 
for a moment by any sensible man of fair, impartial mind. 



I desire to acquit myself, that my own conscience will not 
upbraid me, and that, when I shall pass away, no reproach shall 
fall on me, or my children after me, for my acts here on this 
momentous question, I have, sir, an only son, now a little fel- 
low, whom some of this committe may have seen here. Think 
you, that when I am gone, and he shall grow up to manhood, 
and shall come forward to act his part among the citizens of 
the country, I will leave it to be cast in his teeth, as a reproach, 
that his father voted to send slavery into those territories ? No ; 
oh, no ; I look reverently up to the Father of us all, and fer- 
vently implore of Him to spare that child that reproach. May 
God forbid it, 

*♦«**** 

It shall not be in the power of any man to shake a men- 
acing finger at me, and look me in the face with a gibe of con- 



GENERAL JAMES WILSON. 20 

tempt, and say to me in the insulting language of a former rep- 
resentative from Virginia (Mr. Randolph), ' we have conquered 
you and we will conquer you again ; we have not conquered 
you by the black slaves of the South, but by the white slaves of 
the North.' No, sir ; that remark shall never apply to me. 
Gentlemen need not talk to me, or attempt to frighten me, by 
threats of the dissolution of the Union. Sir, I do not permit 
myself to talk or even think about the dissolution of the Union ; 
very few northern men do. We all look upon such a thing as 
inipossible. But, sir, if the alternative should be presented to 
me of the extension of slavery or the dissolution of the Union, 
I would Say rather then extend slavery, let the Union, aye, 
the Universe itself, be disssolved. Never, never will I raise 
my hand or my voice to give a vote by which slavery can or 
may be extended. As God is my Judge, I cannot, I will not 
be moved from the purpose I have now announced. 



Mr. Chairman, I have but imperfecty accomplished the duty 
I had assigned myself on this momentous question. But I am 
admonished that the pendulum of the clock is upon the last 
vibration of the hour allotted to me. I have made up the rec- 
ord of this day's work of my life imperfectly I know. But I am 
willing it should be unrolled and read by the whole people 
whom I have the honor to represent ; I am willing it should be 
read by the people of this great country ; above all, I am will- 
ing it should be unrolled and read by the light of Eternity, in 
the presence of the assembled universe, and to abide the de- 
cree of the Omnipotent Judge upon the record 

It is impossible to give an adequate description of the elo- 
quence of this distinguished man. He must have been seen 
and heard to be appreciated. His great oratorical efforts were 
made many years ago. The men who were so charmed and cap- 
tivated by his eloquence have passed away. A few still remain ; 
they are scattered and inaccessible. It is only left for us to 



26 



MANCHESTER HISTORIC COLLECTIONS. 



glean what we can from a few printed speeches that have been 
preserved, and to brief biographical sketches and to anecdotes 
and traditions that have been handed down from a former gener- 
ation. To these I have frequently referred and quoted in this 
paper. I am conscious that my work has been poorly done. 
If I have contributed in any manner to throw light on the char- 
acter and services of this honored and idolized son of New 
Hampshire I am satisfied. 




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